Art Books About Being an Artist

Art is everywhere and comes in so many different shapes and forms. No matter what it may look like, we are all artists when we are creating. The list of books below reminds us that no matter what we do, think or see we are all able to be artists.

More Resources for Little Book Lovers

The best way to encourage a love of reading is to provide kids with many opportunities to engage with a wide variety of books that are of interest to them. That’s why we share so many books lists on Fantastic Fun and Learning. We want to make it easy for you to find great books your kids will love. Over the years we’ve also discovered some helpful tools for connecting kids and books.

Digital libraries are one very handy way to do this. Epic! is one of our favorite online libraries. It’s full of over 25,000 books, learning videos, quizzes and more for kids 12 and under…and it’s free for educators. Click here to learn more and sign up.

Book Boxes are another fun way to get kids excited about reading. What kid doesn’t love to get a special delivery in the mail?! The crew over at Bookroo finds the best little known books that you won’t already have in your library, and they send them to you each month. Take a peak inside a Bookroo Box here.

Book-Based Activities are also a lot of fun for kids. Jodie over at Growing Book by Book has saved us all a ton of time and created a full year of Book-Based Activity Calendars so that you can extend the fun with a special book each week.

Creating Art

The Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg

Beautiful Oops is a fun and interactive books that shows all the ways that you can use your mistakes to create art. I love the different ways you can interact with the book and how what looks like a mistake, accident or mess is actually something beautiful.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

The Dot tells the story of Vashti, who does not believe she is an artist and cannot think of anything to put on her paper in art class. The teacher says to make a mark, any mark, and the dot she creates becomes much more than a dot. This book is a great read for kids that are hesitant to create art.

Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre

Too Much Glue is a fun story about a boy who loves glue and uses way too much in his art work. When he is stuck in glue, he becomes the art. This book was also featured on our All About School Book List.

Sky Color by Peter H Reynold

In Sky Color, Marisol is planning to paint the sky for her class mural, but the only trouble is she does not have any blue. On her way home she notices that the sky is not always blue and that you can create the sky using many different colors.

Art by Patrick McDonnell

Art loves to make art. He draws, paints, doodles and squiggles. The art that he creates is very different and perfect for the refrigerator.

I Am an Artist by Pat Lowery Collins

I Am an Artist is a beautiful book that shows all the ways you can be an artist by just looking at the world around you. I loved the illustrations and hidden pictures in the illustrations.

What Color is Your World? by Bob Gill

What Color is Your World? Helps readers to think outside the box about the world around them. The author encourages readers to paint the their world in many different colors not the color you would typically think of.

Seymour Bleu by Catherine Deeter

Seymour Bleu is an artist but he is stumped and can’t think of anything to paint. In the end he realizes that his inspiration comes from those closest to him. The writing for this book is wonderful; there are so many descriptive words for colors and the things that Seymour Bleu sees.

Why is Blue Dog Blue by George Rodrigue

Why is Blue Dog Blue? Is a book about all the ways and reasons that you can paint a dog blue or orange or yellow or whatever color you feel. I like how this book shows that art is about what you see and think, not what it should really look like.

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

Tommy loves to draw and knows he wants to be an artist.  He can’t wait to go to school and take art class. I love this book and how key teachers played a big role in Tommy becoming an artist. No matter what you are told, you should never give up on your dream.

An ABC of What Art Can Be by Meher McArthur

An ABC of What Art Can Be is a colorful alphabet book about all things art. I love all the different styles of art that are in the book, such as O is for Origami. This book will remind students that art is not just drawings or paintings.

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

In Ish, Ramon loves to draw until his brother laughs at his drawings. He learns that art is what you make it, not what looks “right”. This book was also featured on out All About School Book List.

I hope that a book on our list inspires your kids to create art. Which book do you think your kids will like most?

More Books About Art

For more books that inspire creativity see our Books About Drawing and Painting.